Orange County Groundwater System – Building

Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System

Southern California Building, United States of America – design by HOK

23 Oct 2008

Orange County Building

Date: 2008

Design: HOK Architects

photo : Lawrence Anderson

Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System

Orange County has responded to Southern California’s escalating water crisis by building a sophisticated $480 million microfiltration system that transforms waste water into drinking water. It is the world’s largest system of its kind and safeguards the region’s inhabitants from the threat of contaminated water. The facility prevents the intrusion of seawater into the groundwater basin and replenishes the basin aquifer with clean, pure drinking water.

The client challenged the design team to create an architectural character for the campus that would unify the diverse industrial and administrative functions while conveying the state-of-the-art functions taking place within.

The design expresses the project’s advanced technology and progressive vision by integrating the technical systems into the architecture. Instead of hiding or “dressing up” the utilitarian industrial systems, the architecture helps tell the story of the entire water purification process to the local community as well as to visitors including school children, plant managers and engineers from other water districts, and foreign dignitaries. The design accommodates the population increases predicted for the future: by 2020, California’s population is expected to increase state-wide by 15 million people.

The design concept organises the architectural elements around an indoor-outdoor exhibit path. This linear spine follows the treatment process from effluent to purified water and injection back into the aquifer. The spine gives the campus an organisational clarity and character that is directly related to the story being told while unifying the various building types. It also gives the facility opportunities to promote recycling, conservation and other sustainability issues.